This year, we learned a lot of new words. But for the lovers of the French language that we are (like the French language if I can invite him to dinner, marry him and have children with him, I achieve my ultimate life goal), there are certain words that we often use without really being able to define them. They are frozen in expressions without anyone knowing what they mean. And freezing a language sucks. Because after that makes a rigid language and from rigid to frigid there is only one f. Don’t play dumb.
1. The chandelier is not just a rich man’s light
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In the expression, “it’s been ages since we’ve seen each other”. The chandelier is a 5 year period. It is a term of religious origin. AH BAH YEAH IT’S IN YOUR MOUTH A CORNER IT AS THE DUCKS SAY.
2. A forum has nothing to do with Fort Boyard in fact
In the expression, “in my heart of hearts”. The inner forum is the court of conscience. WHAAAAAAT? Yeah. Even if your conscience doesn’t weigh much, it seems there’s room for a courthouse with a judge, robed lawyers and people accused of serious crimes. It’s not pretty pretty.
3. A list
In the expression, “the player enters the fray tomorrow”. The list, formerly, was a palisade then became the closed field in which the tournaments and games took place. Like this is a list:
Whereas this is a propeller and we have never changed its meaning since the invention of humanity by God or the aliens or the monkeys.
4. Férir, the origin of “feru” (and no, it’s not at all an injunction to make your audience laugh)
In the expression, “without firing a shot”. Ferir means to strike. The French language has kept its past participle: feru, in the expression “to be keen on something”.
5. A sieve
In the expression, “to sift”. The sieve is a sieve. A sieve is like a friend who likes to make small heaps. A target is also an “algorithmic technique allowing to approximate the cardinality of certain sets of numbers” according to Wikipedia and I laughed at kesskeu understood that meant.
6. A Fur
In the expression, “as and when”, as and when are in fact synonymous and both mean a proportion marking a progression. So needless to say you put the roast on, everyone will despise you.
7. Bée is not just the monton’s means of expression
In the expression, “open-mouthed”. Bée is the past participle of the old verb “béer” which means wide open or “flabbergasted”. We have also kept its present participle: a gaping hole.
8. The bailiff is not removed from the bailiff
Which no longer exists except in the compound word “huis-clos”. The huis is the old name of the door (hence bailiff and doorframe). Here is a funny and unusual piece of information to give to your bailiff the next time he comes to empty your apartment of all your furniture, including the rice-cooker (these people really have a really bad mind).
9. A harness
In the expression “to be in the hot seat”. The hot seat was a small low seat on which the accused were made to sit. So between us, being in the hot seat is really not a comfortable position. Limit it’s better to have your ass between two chairs.
10. A yardstick (you won’t look at your forearm the same way again)
In the expression “instead of measuring what is good for oneself against what is good for all, man proceeds in the opposite direction”. The yardstick was first the forearm before becoming a unit of measurement.